Broadway’s Original Roller Skating Musical, The Rink, Comes to BU’s Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
For the first time in 40 years, this rarely produced musical will feature a newly restored book and orchestrations on BU’s mainstage, from Nov 22-Dec 8.
Broadway’s Original Roller Skating Musical, The Rink, Comes to BU’s Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
For the first time in 40 years, this rarely produced musical, written by Terrence McNally with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, will feature a newly restored book and orchestrations on BU’s mainstage, from November 22-December 8.
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre presents The Rink, Broadway’s original roller skating musical, at Boston University’s Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre from November 22 through December 8. For the first time in 40 years, The Rink, a rarely produced musical, will feature a newly restored book and orchestrations. Written by Terrence McNally, with Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, this innovative musical is set in a sort of Coney Island of the mind, on the ragged fringe of the New York show-biz world.
Italian housewife Anna Antonelli’s roller rink is about to be demolished, and with it Anna’s sour memories of her Lothario of a husband and her painfully shy and estranged daughter Angel. Angel returns after a long absence, hoping to save the rink and rekindle the relationship with her mother. The rink becomes an arena in which mother and daughter examine their past, present and future.
Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera originated the roles of Angel and Anna on Broadway in 1984. Rivera won a Tony award and Drama Desk Award for her performance as Anna.
BU School of Theatre’s production of The Rink is being directed by MFA Directing student Gregg Wiggans (CFA’25), as part of Wiggans’ thesis project. “Working with Music Director and Musical Theatre Assistant Professor, Harry Castle, John Kander’s team, and Concord Theatricals, this rarely produced musical will feature a newly restored script and score – back to the original Broadway production of 1984. This will be the first time in four decades that anyone will have heard this story and music as originally intended. You are a part of theater history at BU,” says Wiggans.
This will be the first time in four decades that anyone will have heard this story and music as originally intended. You are a part of theater history at BU.
The show’s artistic producer is MFA Production Management student River Hayes (CFA’25), for whom, “personally, this project is the culmination of a multi-year thesis exploration. Boston University has one of the only graduate programs in the country that allows for applied research in the emerging field of Artistic Producing, so we are able to fight for the possibility of tomorrow and build storyworlds in new ways because of a place like CFA,” says Hayes, who is also pursuing an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Arts Administration through BU Metropolitan College. “Audiences can expect to see Broadway’s original roller skating musical with even more glitter and magic, and to make musical theatre history together as audiences hear remastered orchestrations from Kander & Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret) for the first time ever.”
Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre, Harry Castle, who joined the ranks of CFA’s faculty this fall, is The Rink‘s Music Director. “It is so exciting to be music directing The Rink as my first show at BU. It’s been great to work on this challenging and varied musical material with my students, and especially to be playing the original orchestrations for the show, which haven’t been heard on stage in nearly 40 years,” says Castle, a composer, lyricist, educator, and music director. “I’m looking forward to bringing this 16-piece orchestra to the Booth, and to be collaborating with so many wonderful musicians, both School of Music students and local professionals. There have been so many opportunities for learning and growth through this process, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it!”
Wiggans adds,“History will be examined as The Rink moves decade-by-decade through the post-World War II glow of the 1950s, the disillusionment of the 1960s, and the political and social turmoil of the 1970s Coney Island – where New York City was broke. High inflation. Salary stagflation. The Middle East was in crisis. Gas and grocery prices were doubled and tripled over night. Presidential corruption crippled American trust. A government that struggled with the cultural shifts that marginalized communities demanded recognition. Sound familiar?”
Boston University has one of the only graduate programs in the country that allows for applied research in the emerging field of Artistic Producing, so we are able to fight for the possibility of tomorrow and build storyworlds in new ways because of a place like CFA.
The Rink is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.
THE RINK
Presented by BU School of Theatre
THE RINK
- Book by Terrence McNally
- Music by John Kander
- Lyrics by Fred Ebb
- Directed by Gregg Wiggans (CFA’25)
SHOW DATES AND TIMES
November 22 – December 8, 2024
- Friday, November 22 • 7:30pm
- Saturday, November 23 • 7:30pm
- Sunday, November 24 • 2pm
- Thursday, December 5 • 7:30pm
- Friday, December 6 • 7:30pm
- Saturday, December 7 • 2pm & 7:30pm
- Sunday, December 8 • 2pm
TICKETS
General admission: $20
Free with BU ID at the box office 30 minutes before curtain, subject to availability
LOCATION
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
820 Commonwealth Avenue, Brookline, MA 02446
for parking, directions, and public transit info
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Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is a community of artist-scholars and scholar-artists who are passionate about the fine and performing arts, committed to diversity and inclusion, and determined to improve the lives of others through art. With programs in Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, CFA prepares students for a meaningful creative life by developing their intellectual capacity to create art, shift perspective, think broadly, and master relevant skills. CFA offers a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as a range of online degrees and certificates. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa
The School of Theatre at Boston University College of Fine Arts offers conservatory-style education for the study of acting, stage management, design, production, and all aspects of the theatre profession within the setting of a major research university. The School of Theatre seeks to provide students with opportunities for artistic growth through a rigorous curriculum, professional connections, and an emphasis on collaboration and new work. Learn more about the current BU School of Theatre production season at bu.edu/cfa/theatre/season.